Turning Points
by YamiPaladinofChaos
Summary: Every now and then, someone comes into our lives who changes us irrevocably, whether or not we want them to. Uzumaki Naruto, the makings of a legend, and the people around him.
1. Yondaime: The Regrets Of A Not Father

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Naruto.

You know, some people just never appreciate life until its already slipping out their fingers, bleeding out so quickly that you can literally _feel_ your soul whispering out.

If Jiraiya heard me spout such nonsense, he'd probably smack my head and tell me I had too much or too little to drink.

If anyone else heard me say it, they'd probably look at me like I was insane.

After all, I'm the Yondaime, the Yellow Flash of Konoha, Fourth Hokage. I'm awesome, I'm talented, I'm smart, ad infinitum.

And I know it, of course.

But even I know I'm not immortal. It's a lesson a lot of people should really get to know, especially that crazy bastard Orochimaru.

Huh... I think the loss of blood has started reaching my brain, if I'm thinking about Orochimaru at a time like this.

Can't get distracted.

Not now.

A voice calls out my name, quiet and low. Kakashi. Good old Kakashi. He stands just outside the hut, leaning against the doorway. One of his arms has blood running down it, and he's thin and pale and weak, all scratched up and cut up.

Poor kid looks like I feel. His two eyes are exposed, and the Sharingan one reflects in the night. "The baby is here." His voice is low and uneasy, and trembling with sorrow. I never told him about her, or the baby. Never told anyone but Sarutobi, until tonight.

Makes me kind of sad. The only reason I even told the old man was because I needed some confirmation, some resolution to the idea that I shouldn't be distracted, shouldn't expose those who I love to the world. Especially not a newborn child

Sarutobi's wife died years ago, taking a blow meant for the Sandaime right through the heart. It was a sad day, and one of the few times I'd ever seen the man depressed as he cried into the thunder.

He agreed, and looked at me sadly. _"The Hokage's life is dangerous... and some chances aren't worth taking. But this is your choice."_ He was probably trying to change my mind.

But it was too late already. I knew I had no other option than to hide them away. She wasn't healthy, wasn't even a ninja. Just a sick woman who sold flowers, who was sad and quiet all the time.

I wanted to see her smile.

I really wish I could have seen it... one more time.

"Alright... thanks Kakashi." I see the look in his eyes. I know what he's thinking. He doesn't like this, doesn't want this.

Sorry, kid. I don't want to leave you alone, not after Obito. But I've got no choice.

"What... what did she name him?" my voice sounds weak. I know she's dead. She was weak and sickly when I left her, unshed tears in my eyes reflecting her own. and I'm following her to the afterlife.

I promised myself I would never leave my children orphans... but I suppose becoming Hokage was breaking that promise already.

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." Kakashi said quietly, looking at me. Damn it kid, you're making me feel bad, looking like a puppy I'm kicking out into the rain.

I'm not surprised she chose to change his name to something different from either of us. Hell, its probably what I would have done.

I want to ask Kakashi to look after him, but frankly, I know its asking too much. After this, Kakashi'll barely be able to look after himself. "Make sure... make sure no one ever knows he's my kid. Got it? I don't want him taking my crap as well as his own."

Kakashi looks at me as though I've gone completely insane. "He's your son! Why wouldn't-"

"He should, by all accounts, hate me for what I'm about to do. And I'm not his father." I feel weak, weaker than I've ever been before.

Damn fox. Just had to go and ruin my life, didn't he?

"Father's are the ones who watch their kid grow, who make sure they learn every lesson, who know when to hold on and when to let go. And me... Hell, I'm the guy that gave him this life, and this curse." My face twists into my familiar grin. "I'm an asshole."

It feels light on my face, a welcome change from all the heaviness in my limbs.

"I want Naruto known as the hero, not me. I'm nothing but a sinner whose forcing a curse on an innocent kid. Consider that my final request." I look at Kakashi, straight into both his mismatched eyes. He'll follow my request, tell it to Sarutobi.

Whether or not anyone follows it, is up to fate.

"Now forget about anything but that request, and get out. I'm going to end this." I try to force as much strength into my voice as I possibly can.

Kakashi stares at me for a moment. For a genius, he can be pretty damn stupid.

"I mean it, kid. Get out." It comes out more as a wheeze than an order, and I feel a bit of blood on my tongue.

"Yeah. I'm going." He doesn't look at me as he leaves, and places his forehead protector over his Sharingan.

"And Kakashi?" he stops, but doesn't look back.

"Tell Jiraiya I'm sorry I won't get to read the next book, would ya?"

Kakashi lets out a single bark of laughter, and walks away.

I meant it. I really did want to read that book.

My hands move over the seals surprisingly easily, for a technique I only learned a few days ago, when the Kyubi's presence became known. The words tumble out my mouth before I even realize it.

A big, freaky white thing appears as I finish, and the world turns black. Naruto started crying, even though he shouldn't have been able to see this weird thing.

Still, one should always try to be polite. All I can do, after all, is smile at Death, and hope it smiles back.

"So, you're the God of Death?" unsurprisngly, it doesn't answer.

Jeez... Gamabunta is a hell of a lot more fun than this creepy jerk. This guy would make a terrible drinking partner. Probably even leave me to pay for the drinks.

Still, I've got no choice. Even Gamabunta and I can't beat Kyubi.

Sorry, Uzumaki Naruto. Sorry, my son.

You know, I'm really going to miss this village, and especially being Hokage.

Except the paperwork.

I always thought that would kill me.

Funny.

One last joke for the road, I suppose.

Sarutobi, I'm depending on you to make sure this turns out alright.

The sealing's begun to take hold, and a mark, that mark that will hopefully never be seen again on the boy- Naruto's body again.

I really wish I had gotten to known you, kid. Or at the least, found out if I could love you.

If I would have been a good father.

Or if you would like ramen.

Yeah... that would have been gre-

Author's Notes

I was fighting a rather off and on battle between the idea of Naruto being the Yondaime's son. But the similarity in looks, and the fact that Itachi calls Naruto the Yondaime's isan, which could be descendant, legacy, or something else along those lines, makes it hard for me to ignore. So, there's my take.

The abrupt ending is significant- the Yondaime was dying, and the seal kills the caster.

This story is so far planned out all the way up to the time jump. Beyond that, I'm not quite sure.

Up next- the Ichiraku chef.


	2. Ichiraku: Those Familiar Blue Eyes

**_Disclaimer:_** I don't own Naruto.

Some people really don't appreciate a good bowl of ramen, nor just how completely complex in its simplicity it is.

Yes, there are noodles. Yes, it is a soup.

But it's the mix, the sheer options you have when creating a bowl of ramen.

Do you want shark fin? Vegetarian? Beef? Garlic?

Whatever you can dream up, you could probably put into ramen.

And that's what makes it so interesting, so wonderful to cook. The mix is what's important, the whole, not the individual ingredients.

The world is a lot like a ramen bowl. All sorts of people make it up, and that's why its so refreshingly erratic, so spontaneous, at once absolutely joyous and comically tragic.

Jeez, the day must be slower than I thought, if I have time to sit around and think about what ramen all day.

Ah, for the days when this place was bustling with customers. The Yondaime loved my stuff, and people, being people, followed him in, wanting to get in good with the Hokage.

Hey, I'm a businessman, first and foremost. I make my living off of this stuff, and why people come to eat hear is none of my concern.

The day is long and hot, boring and dry. Sheesh, if this keeps up, I might have to start cutting back pay.

My throat feels rather dry, probably from all the heat in the kitchen. I keep it moderately warm at all times, so that I can get the ramen out quicker.

First rule of being in business- speed means more productivity, productivity equals more money.

Its not materialistic. Its trying to make my way in the world. I'm not cut out to be a ninja- but even elite jounin have to eat, and being a quick place to grab a bite is a way of contributing to the village without experiencing life threatening danger.

Sometimes, though, I wonder if I should have at least tried my hand in the academy. Some days, I think that if I could have fought, maybe I could have helped out in the battle against that damnable fox.

I lost my wife and my son in that battle, killed in the crossfire. I barely recognized her body. My son was clinging to life, dirty and bleeding from the mouth as he cried and died in my arms.

Now all I've got left is a shop, my daughter and the ability to make ramen for a few odd customers.

Damn I miss the Yondaime. Kind of annoying sometimes, but a good kid, and an even better customer.

Not that the Sandaime isn't great. But the old man isn't in the habit of dropping down enough money to pay for the bills in one meal.

There's a slight scuffle outside. I wonder if I should put my head out, but really, its none of my business. Voices, indistinct but angry, I can hear though, and suddenly a loud thump is right inside the restaurant.

I poke my out, hoping that its none a bunch of ninja fighting in the streets. That might be rather dangerous.

Fortunately, its just a spiky head of blonde hair and a little waif of a brat. From the looks of him, he's an orphan, with dirty, too short clothes and skin that's covered in scratches and bruises from living in hard times.

Yeah, well, sucks to be him. I feel sorry for the kid, but I don't have time for kids without cash. Ayame would probably be annoyed with me, but that's life.

We can't all be saints.

Then he looked up, and two shining blue eyes stared straight at me for a moment.

I couldn't breath, my chest constricted and I literally thought I was seeing a ghost. Because damn it, I knew I'd been here before.

"_What the hell is this place?" _another young, blonde, blue eyed kid asked, dirty and unkempt, orphaned and unwanted.

"_If you don't got cash, then beat it, kid." _My voice seemed deeper then. Stronger.

The kid ignored me, staring defiantly at me as he sniffed the air. _"That smells good. What is it?" _

"_Ramen."_

"_Well, just you wait. When I become Hokage, I'll buy ramen, and then we'll see whose laughing!" _the kid stood up, glaring at me with the most electric blue eyes I've ever seen. There was something special in those eyes- and for just a moment, I _believed_.

"Stupid assholes... I'll show them!" the kid scowled deeply, accenting the whiskers on his face as he stood up, a fire kindling behind blue eyes.

My first words should have been to tell him to get the hell out.

"What's your name, kid?" I couldn't help myself. Those damn eyes.

The blonde kid looked at me, startled and bewildered as to how he wandered into here. His face twisted into, just for a brief moment, the look of a lost child, out in the cold. Then it was a cold mask of scowling and annoyance. "Uzumaki Naruto." The kid looked at me with stiff expectation.

And he was not to be disappointed.

Shit, if I'd have known that the Kyubi brat would walk into my store, I would have closed early.

"Get out." My voice was cold, though I tried not to show it. I knew the Yondaime wouldn't have wanted this, like Ayame. Like Tomoyo.

But the Yondaime was dead, like my beloved Tomoyo and my son. And the dead don't get a say in things.

The kid looked at me with an angry, irritated look, raising his defenses high and strong. "I didn't want to be in this stupid place anyway! What the hell kind of place is this, anyway?"

"It's a ramen stand. Now get lost." I could see my words weren't meaning jack to this kid. Damn those eyes, damn those eyes that look like my favorite customer.

And damn this kid for being the Kyubi.

Enemy and friend, both in one.

"Ramen huh... I like ramen, but I only ever get the instant stuff." The kid muttered sullenly, and stood, looking down. "Could I try some?" his voice was eager and earnest, those blue eyes wide and hopeful.

For some reason, it pissed me off. "No. I don't give handouts." My voice was tight now, wired like a chord stretched thin.

Instead of crushing him, it only made him worse, and a defiant look crossed his face, and again, I cursed those damn blue eyes. "Fine then. I'll buy some. In fact, when I'm Hokage, I'll buy all the ramen you've got! And then you'll have to serve me!"

I laughed, long and bitter. Unlike last time, I didn't believe him. "Kid, you become Hokage, and you'll never pay for ramen from here again." I laughed again, mocking his dreams and relishing it.

No one's perfect. The Yondaime wasn't immortal. My family was slaughtered.

Instead of dimming, the light in his eyes shone brighter. "I'll hold you to that, old man!" he grinned, and looked me dead in the eyes. There it was, plain as day.

"Because I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I _will_ be Hokage!"

I got the odd feeling that I was going to be serving him a lot of free meals one day.

Strangely enough, I didn't really mind that idea, if it came from those eyes.

Author's Notes

Since I've never found any characterizations for this character, I'm shooting blind. Still, I hope it worked out alright. Iruka is supposed to be Naruto's first real friend, and thus, I wanted more of an apathetic, or at least less than hostile character in this chapter than the friendly person usually portrayed in fics.

Up next- Iruka.


	3. Iruka: The Believer

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Naruto.

Of all the places I thought I'd end up, teaching at the Academy was the last one. I was a hellraiser for my teachers, always playing pranks and getting into trouble.

Looking back, I sometimes blush and wonder what I was thinking. Its lonely, being an orphan, growing up remembering all that you lost, all that once was.

Still, things you do when your young seem foolish and well... stupid, when you look back. The mixture of guilt and embarrassment churns in my gut, making me blush just thinking about it.

Not that its any excuse, being young. Its just... a phase, but one that a young man or woman has to be accountable for.

So, where the HELL is Naruto!

God, I've taught him myself for years, and I have no idea how he's evaded the ANBU teams for this long. I've pulled pranks in my time, but this is insane!

Pulling the ANBU on him is harsh, though. Sending an assassination team to hunt down a boy simply because he defaced the Hokage monument seems a bit much.

You'd think, as the Kyubi's vessel, he'd have amazing powers and a vicious, brutal tendency towards a psychopathic slaughter.

Instead, he's really just a kid who wants to have a friend.

You can't really be afraid of Naruto, not if you've failed him on every test he's ever taken and watched in utter amazement as he screwed up even the most basic jutsu.

Wait... glimmering blond hair... I know that one.

"Naruto! There you are!" my voice is a bit too harsh, and he flinches and stares up at me with the same, "Go-to-Hell" defiance he shows whenever he thinks he's backed into a corner.

I feel a twinge of pain. I know that look.

He's irritated and inside I know he doesn't really want to cause trouble- but it's the only way anyone will even give him more than a first, withering glance.

I know, I know you're hurting. And I'm sorry.

Even as I'm dragging him to clean up the monument, I can't stop the teacher in me from berating him for doing such a thing, even though I've pulled pranks and been in his situation plenty of times before.

After I'm done scolding him, he looks almost crestfallen until he turns away, trying not to look like what he is- scared and lonely and not sure if he's ever going to be anything at all.

Damn it.

"You want some ramen when you're done?" the words come out rather shy, and I look up at him and in that moment I saw his heart, open for just a moment, wounded and scarred.

He looks at me with such heartbreaking happiness over this simple gesture that I thought I might cry.

But then a foxy, overjoyed grin that seems way too bright, like a mask of sunlight.

It was only for a moment, but I understand just how much it meant to him that I offered him anything at all.

The feeling that I had done something good, something greater than passing on the knowledge of how to fight and survive and, as much as I hate to think, kill to teenagers and younger.

---

The feeling is nearly as gone as my wallet, empty and utterly shocked.

I simply don't get it. Naruto's like a bottomless pit!

"More please!" I want to say no, but the simply happiness on his face when he takes that first, well, actually only gulp of that ramen makes it impossible to deny.

When the Yondaime sealed the Kyubi in him, did the Kyubi keep its own hunger too?

The chef's looking at me. He's obviously seen Naruto in here plenty of times, but never with another person.

Biting my lip, I smile. "Keep it coming." The words and smile are so easy and make my heart lighter than its been in a long, long time.

And its because of Naruto. Simply being around him makes you feel... better, as though his determination and never-say-die-because-there's-something-better attitude become your own.

He can be Hokage.

If only people could see what he is... what I've only been able to see because of my pain.

As he devours the last bowl, at last, he sits back and sighs, burping loudly and only looking proud at the sound, grinning at me boyishly.

It makes me feel like a kid again.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei!" the fox grin is there, but the sincerity is unmistakable. He pauses, and peers at me. "Can I see your head protector?" his voice is thin and eager, and his eyes light up as he eyes it.

I shake my head, and feel utterly bemused and amused. "This is for ninjas, Naruto. I-when you graduate," I correct my words with a smile, "Then you can wear it."

He looks amazed. No one's probably ever even hinted they believed he could be anything more than the Kyubi incarnate or a dead last loser with no friends, family, or future.

But I know there's something more for you, Naruto. Something great, and special.

The Kyubi's only made you stronger, Naruto. Its made you shine with something that one day, everyone will see.

I meant it when I said when, Naruto.

I'll see you graduate, and damn it, I'll one day go into the Hokage's office and look you in the eye, and we'll share a smile.

Though when you're Hokage, you're going to be paying for the ramen, Naruto.

---

Mizuki... that traitorous bastard! How dare he trick Naruto like that!

I didn't want to fail him. Before Heaven and Earth I swear I didn't want it, and it broke my heart to see him look so crestfallen. But I didn't want him to win his dream because someone gave him a break.

I wanted him to win because he earned it.

Just like he'd earn the title Hokage.

Mizuki took advantage of that pain though, that loneliness and isolation, the need to prove that you're worth something to anyone and everyone.

I can never forgive something like that.

What's worse, is Naruto now knows why he's so hated. He hasn't appeared yet, but I get the feeling he's frozen right now.

That must be one nasty surprise. Finding out you're all that keeps a murderous fox demon from slaughtering us all, and finding out that because of some dumb chance you've been given a burden you never wanted.

Its probably like walking home and realizing your house is empty and that there will never be another warm embrace welcoming you home or a ruffle of your hair as your father looks at you with pride.

But Naruto isn't the Kyubi. The might not realize it now, he might not know it yet, but damn it, I know it.

"He's not a demon anymore... He's Uzumaki Naruto!" my voice rings out clear as day, and I know that even if I die, Naruto had one person who believed in him.

"If you ever lay a hand on my sensei, I'll KILL YOU." This voice rings out through the forest and Naruto stands there.

He doesn't look like the Kyubi, a raging demon of blood and terror and absolute power.

He stands there as a man, a man who is willing to die and bleed and fight to protect those he cares about.

That's what a Hokage is, Naruto. That's what you really are.

But this is hopeless... there's no way he could hope to beat a chuunin like-

Holy. Shit.

The Bunshin is supposed to be his worst jutsu.

The Kage Bunshin is a jounin level jutsu! I doubt most jounin could produce more than a score of these things, but Naruto has at least a hundred!

Mizuki obviously realizes just how bad the situation has become, but its too late.

I can't stop gaping or staring. This should be impossible. An Academy cadet, much less the dead last student, shouldn't even be able to do more than put up a passing fight against a chuunin.

But Mizuki's down and Naruto's standing.

He looks so proud of himself... and I don't blame him.

I may be the only one who sees what you are for now, Naruto, but everyone will one day.

"Naruto... come over here for a moment." I have to sit and lean against the tree because its so painful, but at this moment, I could care less.

Before he can question me, I place my head protector on his head.

The sun is shining now, and illuminates the forest as though it were the light of Heaven.

Naruto is looking at me with gratitude that I can barely accept, knowing how long I stood idle, empathizing with his pain but never acting.

"Congratulations, Naruto." I smile, and he smiles back, and the world feels better than it has in a long, long time.

Author's Notes

I'd like to thank Geonitz for catching several goofs in the last chapter. I would like to have it stated now-

I am an idiot.

Okay, thanks for that, and for the heads up. I wasn't sure if Ayame was fan created or actually canon.

The words are probably different than the actual canon, so I'll apologize now for any discrepancies. Iruka swears more because its inside his mind, and he's not bound by social decorum in his head.

Now we start following the storyline, told from differing POVs.

Up next-Konohamaru.


	4. Konohamaru: The Difference Between

**_Disclaimer:_** I don't own Naruto.

I hate being the Hokage's grandson.

It's not that I don't love my grandpa, because I do. He's always laughing and I look up to him a lot.

But there's a difference between my grandpa and the Hokage. He taught me that himself.

"When I'm with those I love, I can be Sarutobi," he once said, smoking on his pipe as he sat me on his lap, years ago. "But when I step out into the world, I'm the Hokage, the strongest ninja in the village."

And then he looked at me and smiled. "But I prefer being a grandfather the most."

I didn't quite get it then. How could you be someone somewhere, and another person in a different place?

It didn't make any sense to me.

But then people started looking at me like that.

At home, I could be Konohamaru, just a regular boy who wanted to be a ninja.

Outside, I _had_ to be the grandson of the Hokage. In their eyes, I was nothing but the Hokage's son. Not Konohamaru, but the grandson of the greatest ninja of the village.

They even thought I should be Hokage, when I grew up. So people were always watching me, and whenever I did anything even slightly good, they would tell me I could be Hokage, that I _would_ be Hokage.

So I thought I should be one, if only because everyone else thought I should.

It was cool for the first few weeks, when everyone would flock to me and ask me questions about my grandfather. Everyone wanted to know me, to watch me, to talk to me. And I had stories about my grandfather, and not all of them... well, as dignified as he might want you to think.

The one with the ladies bath and his lost pipe still puts me in tears when I think about it.

Hokage my grandpa may be, he's nothing when faced with naked women.

Speaking of naked women, I can't believe Naruto managed to knock my grandpa out with the Sexy no Jutsu.

I've got to try that out sometime.

Who'd have thought the great Hokage would be felled by a genin's own personal jutsu?

Naruto... he was different, from the moment I saw him. If only because no one else could talk to my grandpa like that. Or me, for that matter.

And I liked it. I liked the fact that if I was a complete and utter jerk, he would tell me straight.

The difference between Naruto and everyone else was, Naruto was real. Naruto was true.

He wouldn't lie.

He wouldn't pretend he was my friend, wouldn't pretend he knew me.

He was so different that I couldn't help but follow him. I wanted to know this person who could stand up to my grandfather and tell me I was an idiot.

When I followed him though, I saw. I saw the way people would purposefully look away and move as far away from him as he crossed the street. They whispered words like "demon", "evil", and "dangerous".

I couldn't believe it.

I knew those people. Some of them were really nice people, always smiling at me and offering me a spare sweet or wanting to talk with me.

But those same people looked at Naruto with hate and fear.

And I saw he didn't care. He heard them, saw them, but stared back defiantly and kept walking, head held high.

He wasn't afraid to speak his mind, and he wasn't afraid of what other people thought.

Grandpa couldn't say everything he wanted, couldn't be what he wanted because he was Hokage, because of everyone else.

Naruto was strong... maybe even stronger than grandpa, because no one's opinion held him down. Naruto knew what it was like to have everyone look at you and think they know you, think they have all there is to know on you-

And be completely wrong.

I think it was about then I realized I'd found my hero.

Naruto could understand. Naruto had the same dreams as me, knew how it felt to have people place their own opinions on that dream.

But where people told me I could do it, when Ebisu-sensei continued to push me, telling me I would be Hokage, no one told Naruto he could.

But he said he would anyway.

He was strong... stronger than anyone I knew.

I thought Hokage was something I could get, like a toy. But to Naruto... to Naruto it was different. It was an honor, something to be worked for.

The difference between what I thought Hokage was and what Naruto thought was so different. And I knew he was right, that what I had believed was wrong.

Naruto was what I wanted to be. Someone strong. Someone right.

So I vowed that whatever he did, I would do. He would be my model for being Hokage, not my grandfather.

I would surpass him, like I would surpass my grandpa. That's when I knew I was the best, that I was worthy of being Hokage.

I wanted to be a Hokage who wasn't bound by anyone, who did what they thought was right, and to Hell with anyone else.

I wanted to be Naruto.

Also... I wanted to see the look on grandpa's face when I use the Sexy no Jutsu on him.

Author's Notes

Konohamaru feels a bit too mature, but then again, he's being trained to be a ninja- i.e., to fight and to kill.

I purposefully made him a bit blind to Naruto's flaws. He is, after all, a child.

To forestall any requests for me to do a character, most characters will get their moment. Hinata is a later chapter, to answer a reviewer. Some characters I don't have plans for- Kankuro, Tenten, and Gai are some of the bigger ones. But if you ask before the storyline passes their moment, I might be encouraged to write those chapters.

Up next- Tazuna.


	5. Tazuna: The Truth of Sake

**_Disclaimer:_** I don't own Naruto.

You know, it's really hard to sleep when you understand you could be killed at any moment. I figured I'd at least be able to sleep a little bit until I returned, but instead, we get ambushed not even a day out of the Hidden Leaf.

Got to give that jounin credit though. He's definitely worth every penny, especially if what that Zabuza guy was talking about was true.

His kids, on the other hand, are not.

What the Hell was the Hokage thinking, giving these snotty brats the job of protecting me? They're damn useless!

That girl looks like you could make her cry in a snap. That black haired kid is alright, but he's a bit too damn lone wolfish, and still just a kid. And that blonde one...

My God, he's annoying. Always yelling about being Hokage. What kind of Hokage runs around yelling and boasting?

The Hokage are legends. Their Yondaime became the most infamous ninja among the five countries, thanks to the Leaf-Rock war. The Sandaime is considered to be the genius among geniuses.

And this blonde kid thinks he's got what it takes?

Blech. Sake always tastes bitter if their's something wrong with you.

It swirls a bit, and I let it reflect on the firelight. Sake hasn't tasted any good to me since... since Gato came.

Since my family fell apart and I couldn't do anything to stop it.

Inari...

To Hell with this sake. I don't want it, and it tastes like crap anyway. It makes a low crunch as the cup breaks against the bark of the tree, errant leaves scattering around it as the sake spilled across the ground.

"You know, sake is only bitter when the person drinking it has a problem."

Damn that jounin. He's craftier than I thought.

I won't dignify that with a response though. Otherwise, I could come out sounding like an idiotic, superstitious old man.

"You ought to sleep. You're safe. We're protecting you, remember?" he reminds me, raising a single eyebrow, keeping his voice low so as to not wake his students.

The firelight is like a barrier between us, dancing back and forth, flickering and fading like hope.

"Feh. You should be more concerned with your students. That blonde kid did stab himself in the hand." My voice comes out harsher day by day. Tsunami's noticed, but so far, she hasn't said anything.

"Naruto'll be fine. There's a lot more to him than meets the eye." He replies, and I can tell, just barely, that there's a lot more to that sentence that I heard.

My trade is with building bridges, and its given me a sort of insight into how people connect with each other, as though I also know how they make a bridge to connect their hearts. It might be old age, or my profession, but I can read into how relationships work.

This guy... Kakashi... he's burnt a lot of his bridges, intentionally or not. As a ninja, he's obviously had to have lost at least a few of his buddies in a war... maybe even the Leaf-Rock war, if he's as old as I think he is.

Right now, that sentence is telling me that Naruto is the last bridge connecting him to someone, or something from his past. An event, a person, a friend, a lover, I don't know. But this guy knows something about the kid, and connects with him.

"He's tougher than he looks, I'll give him that." Anyone willing to stab themselves just to keep a mission going has got guts, I've gotta admit. "But damn if he's not a loud, obnoxious brat."

"Naruto just wants to prove himself." Kakashi responded easily, his eye glinting in the firelight like reflecting steel. "He doesn't have parents, or family. In fact, he barely even has any friends."

His words hit me in the gut rather hard, and my thoughts, as they always seem to do, drift to Inari and my own family.

The Hell if I'm going to admit it though.

"He lose his parents in some war? Or was it the Kyubi attack?" now I'm a bit curious. Maybe this guy knew the kid's parents, and that's why he seems to always be watching the kid, out of the corner of his eye.

Kakashi's good. He's very, very good at hiding how he feels. But I'm old and I'll say it again, I'm damn good at reading people's relationships.

He knows something about that kid's parents. Right now, he's probably wondering just how much he should tell me.

"The Kyubi took his father... his mother died giving birth to him." He finally admits, and I can tell that he's being vague on purpose. His eye betrays nothing, dull and empty as a gray cloud, and that's how I know. He's hiding what he feels on purpose.

But from the way he looks right now, as though he's remembering something, its probably best to let this dog continue sleeping.

Ever so slightly, he slips up and his eye drifts towards the kid. In his eyes, the world has probably faded away and become the world of his memories.

I take a long, hard look at the kid myself. He doesn't really look all that much different from the first time I saw him- loud and disrespectful, energetic and as predictable and controllable as the wind.

He's holding onto his forehead protector for dear life, like it'll keep him safe throughout the night. Without it, his blonde hair is spilling out across his face in gentle strands.

Damn... why is it that I'm thinking of Inari right now? This kid's nothing like Inari- Inari is quiet and subdued, this kid is loud and obnoxious.

But they both lacked something, or someone to look up to, didn't they?

I could never care for Inari as well as I wanted, having to work to keep our family going. Tsunami did her best, but a boy needs a father figure, someone to look up to- an example to strive for, to surpass.

Kaiza filled that role as best he could, teaching Inari what I never found the time to and what Tsunami couldn't. Strength. A belief system.

And all that was taken away from him in an instant.

Did Naruto have his own Kaiza? Was that father figure, that man who taught the boy what he needed to know, still out there?

"He's strong... just like his father." Kakashi's words aren't meant for me, or for this world. They're for the dead friends and comrades he left behind and I won't say a word.

Kakashi has at least one more bridge, in this boy. He's placing hopes and ideals on this boy.

The kid- no, Naruto, snores slightly, and Kakashi and I share one little laugh.

I grin, and pass him a cup. "You want some sake?"

Kakashi looks at me, and then at Naruto. There's a tiny light in his eyes. "Just a little." He replies in good humor.

We share a smile, lift our cups, and toast silently. Kakashi to what he's lost, I to my family.

The sake isn't as good as it was before, but it's certainly a little better, at least.

Author's Notes

I took the sake idea from Rurouni Kenshin, and for the most part, this scene is inspired by that. The focus here is less on Naruto and more on Kakashi, I feel, but that's just how it played out.

There was slight Naruto-bashing, but that's just how Tazuna took him for a while.

Next chapter- Inari, and the different kinds of tears.


	6. Haku: To Tear Down The Sun

Disclaimer- Still don't own Naruto, much to my disappointment.

In the Hidden Village in the Mist, I remember wondering, after a particularly rough session where the villagers had found and beaten me once again, if, in warmer climates, the people were nicer, as if their hearts were as cold blooded as a lizard's.

When I was eight, I found out how wrong I was, when Zabuza-sama took me and fled to a small, non-ninja village. At first, I believed my theory correct, that the only thing that made the Mist any different from the other Hidden Villages was the coldness.

After all, children ran in the streets, laughed and played in the shining sun, with mother's sweeping and cooking and cleaning, father's ruffling their hair as they went about their work. The crisp smells of warm life, like a heartbeat.

One boy tossed me a ball, his smile like the first defiance of summer, hair like warm, sun soaked wood. Zabuza-sama had left me to do as I wished, expressing only the desire that we lay low for the time being.

And so, in the interest of keeping up the charade as a normal boy, I tossed the ball back as gently as I could, hoping my training would not shine through.

The boy laughed and called me a friend. His name was Ichiro, I remember. I don't know if I thought him a friend, but he laughed and followed me around as though I were some new toy. His mother was warm and always smelled of sharply fresh laundry, with a smile like ripened sweetness. His father was absent from his life, but Ichiro was always smiling anyway.

A week passed with Ichiro consistently finding me and forcing me to join in his games, his mother insisting I share the sweets she would make. Zabuza-sama refused to let me decline, stating that it would be strange for him to be seen with a young boy all day long.

At the end of the week, Ichiro stopped showing up. I didn't mind, but somehow, I felt the silence was deafening.

Listless and somehow lacking any direction, I found myself inexplicably drawn to his house.

When I got there, a crowd had formed, the sort of crowd you only find at a tragedy. The air was thick with the smell of fresh, apple-red blood and I pushed through, and found the shards of glass and shredded laundry scattered about Ichiro's porch.

A robber, they said. Just a random incident.

So sad, too bad, end of story for Ichiro and his mother.

After that day, I insisted I would follow Zabuza-sama, even discretely, at a distance, in disguise, as long as I remained close by.

I understood then that nowhere was warm and that the only way you could go on in this world was in the cold, and it would always be cold, no matter what happened. A break in the storm at times, but always, always the cold would return.

Zabuza-sama understands that cold. He becomes part of the cold, becomes a Devil that breathes and lives because of that frozen climate, surrounding himself in Mist that the warmth and light cannot break.

So I would be Ice, I would be Cold. I would learn to douse my emotions in a blizzard and let the frostbite destroy them. I would do what others would not.

I would learn from the blizzards and avalanches of the Mist. I would be merciless and unrelenting, unbending, sweeping away all that stands in the way of Zabuza-sama. My enemies would feel the weight of the cold, bury themselves in white death and die, die so that Zabuza-sama's dreams would be realized.

My heart would become ice, to match the cutting, biting cold of the world I exist in.

Naruto though, lives in a world that I cannot touch, that I fear to touch. He lives in a world where the cold is burned away by golden bright warmth and the ice of the heart is nothing more than a minor inconvenience to his unstoppable smile.

I... I am afraid of him. I fear his warmth more than anything, because Zabuza-sama's coldness if familiar, but this fire, this warmth that he carries in his soul is unlike anything.

He is a wavering, weak Sun in a world where there is only cold and shadows. He tried to burn, burn against that cold but he could be blown out like a candle in the fierce wind.

I am sorry Naruto. But I must be that Wind, I must be the Cold that you will sputter and falter and burn out against because this is something I must do. You are too dangerous, too powerful to let live. Your sun resonating, the reflection of your light on the ice is too powerful to ignore.

"Haku? You're nervous." Zaubza-sama's voice is smooth and cold as a frozen lake, holding his sword that doesn't reflect light and his eyes that are empty and hollow as the deep.

I won't reply or deny, because that might be a lie. "Be careful of Sharingan Kakashi this time. Leave the Genin to me." I reply quietly. Ice. I am the Ice.

Zabuza-sama continues to look at me, piercing through the blizzard of the soul with a brittle light. "You're thinking about that blonde brat, aren't you?"

"He's dangerous." I do not know if Zabuza-sama will understand. He has never truly spoken with Naruto as I have. He hasn't seen the Light that threatens to break the Mist that the Devil surrounds himself with.

"Is he?" Zabuza-sama looks at me and I hope, I pray he understands what I have come to know. "Maybe he is. But Haku, you are dangerous as well."

I am. I am the Cold. I can break Naruto's brittle warmth, make it shatter like shining glass and see that his light too, can be broken and destroyed, brought down by the cold.

"Your heart must be as cold as ice, Haku." Zabuza-sama's voice is so far away, like he's some sort of divine messenger that is telling me a great revelation, but one that, for me, is already known. "The heart of a shinobi."

Yes. The heart of a shinobi. Of a tool, of a weapon that can kill and let shining, crimson-apple blood spill out in the streets, break glass and tear down anything that stands between.

Zabuza-sama has that heart. That heart of ice that is solid and unbreakable, that will not break but maybe, maybe can melt against the Sun.

That cannot be allowed.

I will do what others will not, Naruto. For Zabuza-sama, because the world is Ice and not Light and Warm, and the only way my precious person will survive that Cold is if I allow myself to challenge the Sun and tear it down.

To destroy you.

Author's Notes

I said it would be Inari, but well, I lied. Haku's revelations come before Inari anyway. I wanted this to be longer, but any more and I felt it would start to deviate from the original intent.

Inari'll be next. I promise. After that, I close the book on the Wave Arc and move onto the fun stuff... Chuunin exam!


	7. Inari: To Swim The Tide

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto.

I love the water.

Or, to be more precise, I love what it represents.

That might sound strange, considering how close I came to drowning and dying in it.

I remember that... I remember salty, bitter tears of betrayal, of terror choking me as they slid like poison into my mouth... I remember coldness and the inability to breath and the sudden understanding that I was going to die and that nothing, nothing I could do would change that fact. And I remember the darkness most of all.

But I also remember waking. I remember the golden light and the blazing, inferno sun and the gentle, laughing, dancing fire, the warm, soft taste of fire cooked fish and my father's smile. And I knew then that this was Heaven.

That man was a father to me, but so much more than that.

He was a best friend, a brother, a confidant, a teacher, a mentor, a protector. He was the one I knew could make everything right, no matter what. I could believe in him, could put my faith in him because he saved me when I thought I was going to die.

The water might have tried to kill me, but it brought me to the man who could save us all.

And for that, I am grateful to it.

Afterwards, I could look into the shining water and smile, because He was standing right next to me. He took the time to spend a day fishing with me, even when I wouldn't catch anything at all and he would catch something magnificent.

And even later, the water made him a hero to everyone else, showed everyone else what I could see in him all along. That he was larger than life, that he was Good, when everything else could be wrong and cold.

Even... even when he was gone... I could look at the water with a purpose. I could think that maybe, maybe there was still hope somewhere, even if I couldn't believe in it anymore.

And maybe, if I dived in, and was swept away by the currents, I would find him again.

That, after that terror of the darkness and the cold that Gato brought, the water would bring me to my father, to that warm Heaven.

But I never had the courage to do so.

Every single time, I hesitated.

I just couldn't do it.

The night that Naruto yelled at me... I thought I might just do it, just to end this life, even if I couldn't find my father.

Still... I hesitated.

I thought I was a coward.

But... but you, Naruto, showed me something else.

I wasn't being a coward. I was held back because I still had people here.

People I needed to protect.

My grandfather. My mother.

They're still here. They're still fighting. They're still alive.

I'm still alive.

And as long as I am, I could still do something for them.

Because that's what he would want.

My father would never have forgiven me if I abandoned them for my own selfishness. And I would never be able to look him in the eye and tell him I grew up into a strong man.

You saved me from myself. You saved me from the cold and dark, and taught me to make my own warmth, and stop relying on others. My father might have sheltered me with his warmth and strength, but Naruto, you taught me what my father had been trying to teach me all along.

That the strength to protect was not just in my father's two arms.

They're in mine. In my mother's. In my grandfather's. In everyone's arms.

And most especially, in yours, Naruto. You have the strength to pull through, to make things seem like they just might turn out okay in the end. When everything else can be dark and cold, you can still stand up and fight back, and keep a fire in your heart that never goes out, no matter what.

I really can't believe it, even now, but you really are a hero, a real, honest to God hero.

I couldn't stand you, at first, Naruto. You were too damn good, too damn bright and sunny for this land where all hope is gone. We didn't need your false hope, your dreams.

But you didn't give us a choice, did you?

You were as ruthless as Gato but so much more kind. You bit and scratched and fought with us until we were forced to see the truth- to see that maybe, just maybe, there was something left that was good in this world.

You didn't do it with fists but with words, with determination. Dragging yourself in at unholy hours with that friend of yours, tired and battered but still grinning like a maniac.

If you weren't so persistent, no one would ever believe in you, I think. They'd pass you off as an annoying kid who dreamed too much.

Maybe that's what you're afraid of, since you're not afraid of anything else. Afraid of no one acknowledging you, no one noticing you, and no one taking the time to save you. Is that it?

Are you afraid of falling into the water, Naruto, and having no one to catch you?

No.

That's a lie.

Even if no one caught you, you'd pull yourself out of the water, kicking and screaming, and find a way to get out all on your own. It wouldn't matter how cold or how deep the water would be, you'd pull yourself out and laugh about it later.

You can swim the tide on your own.

I'm really jealous.

Author's Notes

This took longer than I was expecting and is unforgivably short. Sorry. I was contemplating taking the characters out of order, since I have some future chapters written, but decided to stick to the plan and write the series in order.

Thoughts?

The next perspective is the Sandaime.


	8. Sandaime: A Brilliant Loser

Disclaimer- No, still don't own Naruto... sigh.

The Village Hidden in the Leaves has a reputation for producing more genius ninja than any other Hidden Village.

I am, very much so, proud of that fact.

We are the village who have produced the Legendary Sannin Jiraiya the Toad Hermit and Princess Tsunade the medic nin, the White Fang of Konoha, the Yellow Flash of Konoha, Sharingan Kakashi, and so many more.

But for every good genius, there are the problem ones.

We have been the village who unleashed Orochimaru and his twisted, supernatural kinjutsu onto the world. It is we who are responsible for creating the infamous Uchiha Itachi, slaughterer of his own kin.

And even with the ones who came from good moral stock, there have been failures.

Our genius medic, Tsunade, has abandoned us because of grief and bitterness, and now lives a life of sake and gambling.

Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang, rest his soul, was disgraced for doing the right thing and ended up killing himself. His corpse, tragically, was found by a very young Kakashi, who could not understand why his father was lying in a pool of his own blood.

Sharingan Kakashi, our youngest genin ever, lost a teammate, then a sensei, and then his final teammate and lover, all of whom were sacrificed to keep this village alive. Now he hides behind his Icha Icha books and is the only person whom I allow to be three hours late to a meeting with me.

After all, I'm not inhuman. I can begrudge him three hours at the memorial stone.

Jiraiya was never really a genius, not at first. But I think he forced himself to become one, just to spit in my face and show me that he could be. He doesn't hate me, but old wounds run deep, and I have harmed him dearly, I fear. Sadly, despite the fact that he writes what is really blatant pornography and still peeks at women bathing at over fifty years old, he is the most well off of all the genius ninja Konoha produced.

The Yellow Flash, or the Yondaime as he was called later, was possibly the best we have ever created. Sometimes, I think Jiraiya made him that way in order to spite me for all the times I called Orochimaru a genius. A brilliant genius at creating jutsu, a brilliant fighter, and most importantly, a good man.

Sadly, that he was so good and so bright, he burnt out so fast.

All of them, sacrificed for the Hidden Leaf.

Even myself, the Professor, the God of Shinobi, who knows all non-clan jutsu in the Hidden Leaf, am a sacrifice. I am, despite what all my think, far too old for this job. My bones ache in the morning, my joints are stiff and ill suited to making seals anymore.

This job is murder to an old man like me.

But I do it with a smile. I love this job. Anyone who takes on a job with a hundred percent fatality rate that involves mountains of paperwork has to love it.

I think the Yondaime loved the title of Hokage most, out of all of us... sadly, he was the one who wasn't able to enjoy it for long.

He was the one who I think is the paragon of what Hokage should be like. Sacrificing everything they have for the good of the village.

Even their own son.

Oh, the villagers try to ignore it, but they can see it, see it no matter what happens. Every day, without fail, Naruto proves himself to be his father's son. Not just in looks, but in the sheer tenacity and warm nature that the Yondaime was famous and infamous for. Right down to the obsessive love for ramen.

And there are times, if you look at the boy hard enough, that Naruto is overwhelmingly like his father.

It is he, and his generation, who will show themselves to be a generation of geniuses and legends, just as the previous generations had.

Uchiha Sasuke looks to be the next genius of the village, top of his class even without Sharingan. But from what Kakashi has told me, that is no longer an issue. But his obsession with Itachi worries us all. It might just drive him to become the next Orochimaru or even the next Uchiha Itachi.

Hyuuga Neji of the class above, however, could also be the next Uchiha Itachi. The resentment in his eyes is clear to all when he looks at his young cousin, Hinata. I fear the Hyuuga are hoisting their own petard, so to speak.

Hyuuga Hinata, on the other hand, is an anomaly among anomalies. The Hyuuga are well known for inflated egos and arrogance and boldness that surpasses even the Uchiha. Yet their heir is a kind, introverted and almost deathly shy girl. I always smile when I see her watching Naruto, out of the corners of her eyes. Still, she is overshadowed by her genius cousin in her family, and overshadowed by the louder, bolder kunoichi in her class.

Of course, a true genius in terms of intelligence, is hidden from all eyes but a few. Nara Shikamaru, you are truly a piece of work. Possibly the smartest genin the Academy ever produced, but you barely scraped by. If Asuma hadn't picked you up, who knows what might have happened to your potential.

Ah. The Ino-Shika-Chou formation. While not geniuses in their own right, together, they worked more fluidly than the Sannin ever could.

Yamanaka Ino is brash and loud and still has a little girl's crush on Uchiha Sasuke, but mixes it with a kunoichi's seduction... which doesn't work so well with a twelve year old. But she is still a driving motivation in her team, Asuma says, and is the only one who can force Shikamaru and Chouji into working.

Akamichi Chouji is a strange one, to be sure. His family is known to be loud and forceful, the definition of the physical strength that the Chou portion of the formation is supposed to provide. But Chouji is a kinder and gentler boy than his father, whose potential, like many others, is overshadowed by the others in his class. Only Shikamaru really sees what that boy can do.

Aburame Shino, despite his strangeness to his peers, is actually quite normal for an Aburame, from the sunglasses to the trench coat to the bugs crawling underneath their skin. Frankly, I've always been impressed, not repulsed, by the Aburame's connection to the tiniest, seemingly useless creatures of the world. Among the Aburame though, it is said that he may very well be the best that they have ever produced.

Inuzaka Kiba, and of course Akamaru, are also the definition of normal for their clan. The Inuzaka are large, physical fighters who can go into almost bestial rages on command. The Inuzaka do not have as much fame as the Uchiha or Hyuuga or even Aburame, but in their own right, they are powerful, and Kiba will prove himself in time.

Rock Lee is an amusing character. Gai cannot stop talking about the boy, about his progress, about how amazing his determination is. And I must agree. To go from being an equivalent to Naruto in the Academy to a taijutsu specialist with absolutely staggering skill is amazing. It's why I could not deny Gai's request to teach Lee the Lotus, no matter the danger.

TenTen, despite her being overshadowed by both Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji, is truly a marvel. She chooses her own path, to use weapons and master them better than most chuunin have. Her goal to become the next Tsunade is very admirable indeed, though I do hope she never picks up the medic genius's bad habits.

Haruno Sakura... in her, I see a girl who is not really quite sure what she's supposed to be doing, so she simply follows the Uchiha boy around and lets herself be protected by Sasuke and Naruto. I'm saddened that her potential might go to waste, but perhaps, in time, she will see that she cannot continue to watch the two from the back, and must fight beside them.

And last, but no longer least, is Uzumaki Naruto, who unknowingly, truly has the greatest heritage of all his generation. As I said before, I shall say it again. The Yondaime Hokage is quite possibly the best Konoha has ever produced. And with the power to wield the Kyubi no Youma's power, he has more potential than his entire generation combined.

But Naruto is an anomaly, even in his generation of oddities and potential legends. He is far from a genius, despite his amazing task of learning the Kage Bunshin within the span of a few hours, despite the fact that he has, according to Kakashi, come up with strategies that have outwitted missing nin jounin.

He is not a brilliant genius like Hyuuga Neji or Uchiha Sasuke, not a brilliant medic like Tsunade, not a brilliant taijutsu user like Rock Lee, not a future weapon's master like TenTen, nor a strategic prodigy like Nara Shikamaru, he lacks a bloodline to back him, a clan to shape him, or parents to support him.

What is he, then?

A brilliant loser.

He is different from the rest of us geniuses.

He's not like us at all.

Despite all the traits he shares and inherits from the Yondaime, despite his ability to create stunning strategies out of thin air on the fly, despite all his potential, he is a loser.

And that makes him unique.

He's not truly his father's son, not a star that will burn brightly but burn short.

He is the Sun, eternally bright and powerful. He is new, he is different, and he is better than all of us because he is not a genius of any kind.

Because we geniuses are always blinded by hubris and our own self importance that we fail to see what's right in front of us, and thus, our failures are all that more spectacular.

But Naruto sees what's wrong, see's what the geniuses cannot and fixes it with all the tenacity and power of a boy who was never given a chance, and never needed one to begin with.

We have had so many geniuses of so many kinds, all of us have failed in one way or another. I failed with Orochimaru... actually, sometimes I think I failed all my Sannin. I couldn't see Orochimaru's darkness, Jiraiya's potential, or Tsunade's fragility.

Even Yondaime, great and brilliant and good, was unable to keep his team from being destroyed.

Every genius fails, and that failure damages us all.

But a loser, a loser is different, a loser is better than that.

Naruto is better than that. He falls, he's beaten down, but once, not truly, has he ever failed.

Because in the end, only a loser truly sees.

Author's Notes

Out of all the chapters so far, this has to be my favorite.

I'm really tired of all those fics where Naruto becomes some sort of genius with an uber blood line and super fantastic jutsu. Why don't you just replace Naruto's name and but Uchiha Sasuke or Hyuuga Neji or Hatake Kakashi, for God's sake.

Naruto said it himself, after fighting with Neji.

"You're not a loser like me."

Next- Morino Ibiki, and what's the most important thing of all.


End file.
